Bottle



(No Model.)

J. J. SANDS.

BOTTLE STOPPER.

Patented June 4, 1889.,

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSIAS J. SANDS, OF MERTON, WISCONSIN.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,799, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed December 10, 1888.

T0 coZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSIAS J. SANDS, of Mor ton, in the county of lVaukesha and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvement-s in Bottle-Stoppers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in stopper-securing devices of that class consisting of a bar or plate which is insertedin the stoppered orificeas, for example, in the neck of a bottle over the stopperand is engaged with shoulders or projections on the inner surface of the orifice to hold the stopper against outward pressure.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a bottle-neck having a stopper-holding device embodying my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the holdingbar removed. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the plate shown in Fig. 1 beneath the holding-bar, Fig. 3 showing a flanged form of the plate. Fig. 4: is a'side view of the holding bar before insertion. Fig. 5 shows the shape of the same after insertion. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the bottle-neck and holding devices without the plate shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Fig. 7 is a side view of a form of the holding-bar when made of spring metal; Fig. 8 is a side view of the same, showingits shape after insertion in the bottle. Fig. 9 is a sectionalview of an S-shaped holdingbar, of wire. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the holding-bar shown in Fig. 9. Fig. his a perspective view of a wire holding-bar of other form. Fig. 12 is a' plan view of a sheet-metal holding-bar having four arms. Fig. 13 is a side view of the same.

The invention is herein illustrated in its application to bottles; but obviously it may be applied to the stopped orifices of other vessels of various kinds.

Serial No. 293,125. (No model.)

First describing the invention .as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, A is the bottle-neck, of which a is the orifice to be stopped. Near the top of the orifice is located a shoulder or shoulders at, which may be the upper wall of an annular groove a or the under surface of an annular projection standing out from the wall of the orifice. WVhile a continuous shoulder a is preferable, it need not, as will hereinafter appear, extend entirely around the bottle, but separate shoulders a may be employed in proper position to engage with the stopper-holding device to be described.

B is a stopper inserted in the bottle-neck, with its top somewhat below the shoulder a.

O is a flexible sheet-metal holding-barhaving fiat ends 0 0, adapted to engage a shoulder a at opposite points and also having'a central arch or U-shaped bend c.

D is a circular plate, which may be advantageously applied to the top of the stopper beneath the holding-bar when the stopper is of cork, said plate being made slightly smaller in diameter than the upper interior of the bottle-neck to enable it to be easily inserted and removed.

The plate D may be fiat, as shown in Fig.

3; but as a special improvement it is preferably fianged at its edge or about a centralhole thereimas shown in Fig. 3 This projection, engaging the stopper, holds the plate from lateral displacement.

Applying the invention, the stopper is forced into the orifice to until its top is below the shoulder a, the plate D, when used, being inserted with the stopper or placed upon it after the insertion of the latter. The holdingbar is then inserted with its arch upward and its ends engaged with the shoulders at to retain the stopper in place. Said holding-bar if flexible and non-elastic is preferably made of the shape shown in Fig. 4, with its ends at an angle with each other and downwardly inclined, being normally contracted lengthwise sufficiently to enter the bottle-neck freely. Its ends will then be readily engaged with the shoulder a by pressing downwardly upon its central arched part with sufficient force to more or less flatten the same, and thus lengthen the bar beneath the shoulder.

The bar may be made of elastic or spring metal and inserted in a different way. A construction of this kind is shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein the bar, marked 0, is to be understood as made of elastic sheet-steel or other spring metal and having a Ushaped bend 0 between its ends. In this case the bar is forcibly compressed at the central bend in carrying its ends below the shoulders a, and upon its release expands lengthwise to engage the shoulders. The normal shape of the bar 0 is shown in Fig. 7, and its shape after insertion is shown in Fig. 8. The bar of this kind is preferably so shaped that its central arch or bend will be compressed to some extent when the ends of the bar are ongaged with the shoulders in the bottle-neck. After the holding-bar has been inserted in either way describech it cannot be forced out by upward pressure of the cork, particularly if the plate D be employed, since the plate presses mainly against the holding-bar near its ends, which are engaged with the shoulders a. The bar may, however, be easily and quickly removed by inserting a hooked or stiff pointed instrument beneath the central part of the bar, and pulling or prying outwardly thereon, which obviously draws its ends toward each other and out of engagement with the shoulders.

The plate D may have a central hole to permit a corkscrew to be inserted through it, if desired, as indicated by dotted lines at D in Fig. 3, and also in full lines in Fig. 3.

The plate D is especially useful in the case of cork stoppers which are subjected to a strong outward pressure, inasmuch as, owing to .the yielding nature of the cork, it is otherwise liable in such case to press upwardly at its middle part against the central part of the holding-bar, and to bend the bar sufficiently to release its ends. In the case of bottles or vessels containing liquids which exert a relatively light pressure, however, the

plate D may be omitted, especially when the ends of the bar 0 are made bread, as shown in Fig. 2.

I11 Figs. 9 and 10 is shown an expansible holding-bar having the general characteristics of those above described, but made of wire instead of sheet metal. In this case the bar is bent into S shape, and is made of such size that its curved ends 0 0 will fit beneath and engage with the shoulders a of the bottleneck. At its center the bar is provided with a U shaped bond 0', beneath which may be inserted a suitable implement for extracting it. A bar of this character may also be made of either flexible and non-elastic or spring metal. If of spring metal, the curved ends 0 0 will yield in inserting the same beneath the shoulders a, while the bar will yield upwardly at its middle, and thus allow the ends to escape from the shoulders in extracting it. It made of non-resilient metal, the ends of thebar will be bent downwardly before insertion, and it will be expanded and engaged by downward pressure on the center of the bar in the same manner as before described in connection with the bar shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Fig. 11 I have shown a wire holding-bar G, having the general shape of the bar C shown in Fig. 1, its fiat end 0 consisting of parallel side parts 0 e and transverse end pieces 0 0 Its central arch 0 consists, as shown, of the parts c 0?, having central U-shaped bends c c. The said bar may be made either of spring or flexible and non-elastic metal, as before described in connection with the bar shown in Figs. 9 and 10.

In Figs. 12 and 13 I have shown a holding bar 0 which differs from the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by having more than two arms or flat ends 0 c 0 adapted to engage the shonlder of the bottle-neck. A central elevated part or bend 0 enables a hook or similar instrument to be easily engaged with the center of the bar for withdrawil'i it.

In Fig. 14 I have illustrated the holdingbar as straight or flat after insertion. If it be of flexible and non-elastic metal, it will. be made with an upward curvature in its middle part previous to its insertion, as shown by dotted lines, and after insertion it will be straightened by downward pressure upon its middle partin the same manner as hereinbefore set forth in connection with Figs. 1 to 5. If it be made of spring metal, as may some times be preferred, the bar will be bent when inserting it, and then allowed to spring out straight for the engagement of its ends with the shoulder of the bottle-neck. \Vhen this form of the holding-bar is used with a cork stopper subject to great outward pressure, the plate I) will be commonly necessary to prevent bulging of the cork and such 'llexure of the bar as will disengage it from the shoulder (1.

It is entirely obvious that the bottle-neck may be provided either with an annular groove or with shorter grooves a to receive the ends of the holding-bar, the upper wall of the groove or grooves forming the shoulders a to resist the outward movement of the holding-bar; or the shoulders may project from the eylindric surface of the bottleneck.

The term shoulder, as herein used, embraces either form of shoulder as a means of retaining the holding-bar.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the walls of a vessel-orifice having internal shoulders and with a stopper in the orifice, of a flexible metal holding-bar inserted over the stopper and engaged at its ends with the said shoulders, the said metal bar being adapted to be withdrawn by outward fiex'ure thereof between its ends IIO and provided with a central prominence by In testimony that I claim the foregoing as which it may be engaged by a suitable inmy invention I affiX my signature in pres- I0 strument for its extraction. ence of two witnesses.

2. The combination, with the walls of a vesq sel-orificehaving internal shoulders and with JOSIAS SAND a stopper therein, of a flexible metal holding- W'itnesses: bar having" a central arch 0r U-shaped bend, O. CLARENCE POOLE, substantially as described. M. E. DAYTON. 

